Newsletters - June 2016

August 19, 2016

Dear Reader,

Renewable Energy Programme at Centre for Science and Environment has been working in the area of decentralized distributed generation both for rural and urban areas. In the rural areas, we have been focusing on rural electrification through renewable energy based mini-grids and rooftop solar for the urban space. The work in these areas has culminated into two reports on these issues that will be released in the following month during our workshops.

We want to engage with various developers, installers, government agencies and offices both at the state and national level to advocate the idea that the future of energy system in not just this country but all across the globe is distributed, decentralized and renewable.

Upcoming Conferences

July 28-29, Dispur, AssamAruna Kumarankandath (k_aruna@cseindia.org) Conference on “Renewable Energy Potential and development in North East”

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has released a new draft policy on hybridization of wind and solar power plants. Scientific studies have revealed that solar energy and wind energy are almost complementary to each other. Hybridizing the two can bring about efficient utilization of transmission infrastructure and land and reduce variability in renewable power generation, achieving grid stability.

We’ve heard a lot about urgent climate action from “world leaders” in developed countries, yet actual concrete achievements have been limited. The rich world may soon be shown up by small, tropical island nations which have plenty of wind and sun and aren’t lumbered with outdated, base-load power plants to keep running. Plus these islands are among the countries most threatened by climate change.

Thailand’s ?rst large-scale solar power plant demonstrates the feasibility of large, private sector solar farms and leads the way to a greener future. This is Asia’s one of the largest solar generation plants developed and operated by Natural Energy Development Co Ltd (NED), a $250-million joint venture between CLP, Diamond Generating Asia and the Electricity Generating Public Company.

The Delhi government on Monday rolled out it’s first-ever policy for solar energy with an aim to make it a solar city. The draft policy was released for public comments on September 2015 and approved by the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday. Implementing such a comprehensive solar policy for Delhi is one of the 70-point agenda of the Aam Aadmi Party. The policy aims to add around 1,000 MW of solar power by 2020 and 2,000 MW by 2025.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has estimated that the renewable energy sector employed 8.1 million people in 2015, 5 per cent higher than in 2014. This number excluded employment by the large hydropower sector. Renewable energy sector jobs have increased by 6 per cent in the US while the oil and gas sector has seen an 18 per cent-decline in employment. China was among the countries with the highest number of renewable energy jobs with 3.5 million people in the sector, significantly more than the 2.6 million employed by the oil and gas sector.

SEWA Bharat and SELCO Foundation together formed a “Stree Shakti Consortium” to promote the inclusion of women in energy access supply chain. The consortium, yesterday, conducted a workshop to present a report called “Energy Access and Women's Livelihood” that articulates on-ground stories of 300 women in four states-Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Bihar and Karnataka.

Germany’s power demand was almost met completely by renewable energy, but only for a 15-minute-window. Renewable energy supplied 45.5 Giga-watts (GW) from the country’s total demand of 45.8 GW and the move is being hailed as a huge achievement and major milestone for the country.

The last one year of environmental regulation in India has shown many improvements. The pollution limits of many industries have been tightened. Though they are still lax when compared to global standards, the outdated ones, including some which are decades old, have been changed. For some industries in India, like thermal power, pollution control norms were not updated for a decade.

Maharashtra is currently reeling under a severe drought caused by two consecutive weak monsoons in 2014 and 2015. Out of a total of 43,000 villages, more than half (27,723) have been declared drought-hit. The water level in Marathwada dams has fallen to two per cent, with two dams running completely dry. Maharashtra is the largest power generating state in India, with an installed electricity generation capacity of 39,021 MW.

COP President Ségolène Royal presided over the opening plenary at the Bonn climate meet on May 16 which marks the beginning of the implementation of the Paris Agreement. In her opening remarks, Royal called on the negotiators to become "builders and facilitators" in order to make the Paris Agreement a true success. She reiterated that the Paris Agreement was the best way of addressing the climate change challenge.

The Union Ministry of New & Renewable Energy recently released draft guidelines for development of onshore wind power projects and has invited comments on the same. The ministry is trying to address the development in the sector and wants to meet the target of 60,000 mega-watts (MW) set by the government and announced under India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) released in October 2015. However, it falls short in addressing the issue of wind power being installed in forest areas and other environmental impact issues that the sector has.

India will file 16 cases against the US for violating World Trade Organization (WTO) treaties as certain programmes of the United States in the renewable energy sector are "inconsistent" with global norms, according to media reports. According to the reports, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, when asked in the Rajya Sabha as to "whether it was a fact that the government was going to file 16 cases against the US for violating WTO treaties", replied in the affirmative.

Green bonds and green banks are the two new advanced financing tools that can attract low-cost finance for ramping up India renewable energy capacity, according to a new sectoral analysis. The analysis released by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), consisted of two reports.

Even as more than 150 countries prepare to sign the Paris Agreement, research published in journal Earth System Dynamics has shown that a global warming of 2°C will be substantially more devastating for the planet’s climate than 1.5°C by 2100. Researchers have found significant differences in impacts of 2°C and 1.5°C on water availability, agricultural yields, sea levels, extreme weather events and coral reefs.

Wind power has not been given the importance that it commands in the government’s new action plan. On April 19, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) released its new plan on the thrust areas for Research and Development (R&D) in new and renewable energy sources (RES). The ministry identified 11 major thrust areas for Research, Design and Development.